This blogger remembers the stark contrast between Francis and his immediate predecessor that was revealed when Francis assumed the office of the Roman Catholic Church’s Pope. That difference was in the style of each man.

When Benedict XVI was the Roman Catholic Pope, he had a style that came across as being pompous.

From BBC News, 15 December 2007:

“Lacking his predecessor’s charisma, Pope Benedict has taken to wearing some eye-stopping outfits in public, such as a red velvet cape trimmed with ermine, not worn in public since the death of John XXIII in 1963.”

Francis, in contrast, had a more-humble style.

From Catholic News Agency, 14 March 2013:

“The first sign of the change was that Pope Francis individually received the congratulations of his fellow cardinals standing, instead of sitting in the papal throne. But his simplicity was also apparent when he later appeared before the people in his papal attire. Although he could have worn the gold pectoral cross usually worn by pontiffs, he chose to keep the cross from his time as Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires. As far as his papal vestments go, he wore a simple white cassock without the red, ermine-trimmed cape known as the mozzetta. . .

After he left the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis had an elegant car with the license plate ‘Stato Vaticano 1’ waiting for him, but he declined it in favor of riding the last minibus back to Casa Santa Marta with his fellow bishops and cardinals.”

Francis was one who would display mercy instead of sticking to rigid orthodoxy.

From The Hill, 18 February 2016:

“Pope Francis suggested Wednesday that people could use contraception if they are trying to avoid getting pregnant because of the Zika virus despite the Catholic Church’s long-standing opposition to birth control.”

In his 7 September 2015 blog post Pope Francis The Merciful, this blogger quotes a Fox News story as saying, “He [Francis] has chosen mercy as the overarching theme of his papacy. Practicing what he preaches, he has already made free showers at the Vatican available to Rome’s homeless and has barbers available for haircuts for the needy, among other initiatives.”

Francis lived out the meaning of Pontiff when he built bridges between the Roman Catholic Church and other branches of the universal Church.

From Reuters, 25 January 2016:

“Pope Francis asked Protestants and other Christian Churches for forgiveness for past persecution by Catholics as the Vatican announced on Monday he would visit Sweden later in the year to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Speaking at an annual vespers service in St. Paul’s Basilica in Rome attended by representatives of other religions, he asked ‘forgiveness for the un-gospel like behaviour by Catholics towards Christians of other Churches’. He also asked Catholics to forgive those who had persecuted them.”

From the Washington Post, 5 February 2016:

“Pope Francis and the leader of the powerful Russian Orthodox Church plan a historic meeting next week in Cuba, officials said Friday, marking the most significant steps ever attempted to heal a schism that has divided Christianity between East and West for nearly 1,000 years.”

In his 24 November 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Francis writes, “Ecumenism can be seen as a contribution to the unity of the human family. At the Synod, the presence of the Patriarch of Constantinople, His Holiness Bartholomaios I, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Rowan Williams, was a true gift from God and a precious Christian witness.”

Francis was misunderstood and misquoted at times. Once, Francis was misinterpreted as calling Mahmoud Abbas an angel of peace. No, Francis did NOT call him that.

This blogger remembers some pundits accusing Francis of being a Communist.

No, Francis was NOT a Communist.

Francis did not hesitate to extend grace and mercy to members of the LGBTQ community.

Time magazine quotes Francis as saying, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge? They shouldn’t be marginalized.”

Francis reportedly told a gay man, “God made you like this and he loves you.”

Francis also endorsed same-sex civil unions. The Associated Press quotes Francis as saying, “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”

In this blogger’s opinion, Francis was a much better Christian pastor than many of the high-profile Protestant preachers in the USA today . . . and this blogger is a Protestant.